Just now, Jen was holding Liam, and turned him to face Maeve and I, who were
sitting on the couch. He wasn't looking anywhere in particular. Then, Jen
said, "Hi, Papa!" and his eyes moved to focus on me. A moment later, she
said, "Hi, big sister!" and he moved is eyes to focus on Maeve.

As I type this, Jen just tried the experiment again with Maeve, and again he
moved his eyes and head to look at her!

On Safari, on Safari,
In a jeep, in a jeep,
I can see a lion, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

On Safari, on Safari,
In a jeep, in a jeep,
I can see a tiger, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

And so on.

There's a place just over the Quebec border called Parc Safari that we've been hearing
about, and today we went up there on a family outing -- one of the last that
we'll have with just the three of us (before little Liam is born).

On Safari, on Safari,
In our Matrix, in our Matrix,
I can see a zebra, I will take a picture,
Click, click, click. Click, click, click.

Needless to say, the excursion was a hit for the whole family. The park has
a drive-through safari adventure where you drive your car through a small
preserve, looking at animals and even getting a chance to feed some of them.
We saw zebras, elephants, rhinos, ostriches, water buffalo, ibexes, camels,
giraffes, emu, oryx, reindeer, caribou, elk, bison, yaks, wildebeests... and
many more that I'm either forgetting or didn't know the names of.

The highlight of the safari was probably towards the end, when we each of us
got chances to feed bison from the car -- try that in Yellowstone!
The bison were surprisingly gentle, and typically tried to take the food
nuggets from your hand with their lips, but the greedier ones used their
tongues and tended to exude tremendous amounts of slobber in the process.

(My personal favorite, though, was getting the chance to stroke a camel's
whiskers. I don't know why, but it was just one of those great moments.)

Parc Safari also has a small amusement park, with very cheap prices ($2
Canadian per person for all day access to all rides), so Maeve got a chance
to ride to her hearts delight. She and I went on the Ferris wheel together,
and had an excellent time waving at Jen, who awaited us below.

If we had any doubts about Maeve enjoying it, they were allayed when,
shortly after crossing the US border, we looked back in time to see Maeve
pass out from sheer exhaustion. What a sweet kid... the chocolate from the
ice cream was still smudged on her cheek, and her hand was gripping her
memento rock.

]]>0&quot;I'm so right&quot;Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:23:56 +0000http://mwop.net/blog/86-Im-so-right.html
http://mwop.net/blog/86-Im-so-right.htmlme@mwop.net (Matthew Weier O'Phinney)Matthew Weier O'Phinney
Not long ago, as Maeve and I were en route to Jen's work one evening, Maeve
was being very insistent that certain things were a certain way, and was
very adamant even as I used a placating tone with her. I asked her,
jokingly, "Why are you so contrary today?" Her reply?

"Because I'm so smart, and because I'm so right."

I almost wrecked the car as I guffawed. Kids. They're so dang cute. And so
right!

]]>0Every little girl has to give up the bink...Mon, 11 Jul 2005 03:31:54 +0000http://mwop.net/blog/82-Every-little-girl-has-to-give-up-the-bink....html
http://mwop.net/blog/82-Every-little-girl-has-to-give-up-the-bink....htmlme@mwop.net (Matthew Weier O'Phinney)Matthew Weier O'Phinney
So, last night, Maeve fell asleep in the early evening, on the couch, clutching
her sippy cup and sucking on her bink while watching Scooby Doo. She woke up an
hour later, and after she'd been up for a while and was less groggy, she
announced to Jen and me that, "I'm not going to use my bink ANY MORE. Every
little girl has to give up the bink some time, when they're four, so I'm not
going to use the bink EVER AGAIN." (Imagine dramatic pauses between the all-caps
words there...)

This coming from the girl who has a fit every time her bink isn't within
eyesight and reach. Needless to say, we didn't quite believe her, but we were
willing to support her. We told her that if she wants to stop using the bink,
that's okay; it's also okay if she decides to use it again. (Fully expecting
she'd want it within minutes of going to bed.)

Well... Maeve slept all night without it, and didn't want it this morning, nor
in the car. She's adamant, our little warrior queen! (Which is what the Gaelic
Maeve translates to in English, in case you were wondering.)

I might be jumping the gun here, but I get the feeling our little girl has taken
another step in growing up... and I'm bewildered and a little sad. Much as I've
hated the bink the past year, I also associate it with my little girl... and
she's getting so she's not so little any more!

UPDATE: I jumped the gun. She did go a full 24 hours, but the
following night decided she wanted the bink again. But there is hope
for a bink-less future...